The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
When a semiautomatic firearm expends its last round of ammunition, a slide of the firearm is locked in the aft position (to aid in reloading) by an upward movement of a thumb-operated slide lock lever which interfaces with a permanent slide notch on the firearm slide.
After an empty magazine is replace by another magazine (containing at least one round of ammunition), the slide is released (to return to its forward most position under a biasing force of a recoil spring (the recoil spring's function/configuration known by those in the art and thus not described)) by the user depressing the thumb operated slide lock lever to the down position. This action “slips” the slide lock lever off of the permanent slide notch. As the slide returns to its forward position, the slide chambers/feeds ammunition from the magazine into a barrel to make the firearm ready for discharge.
The permanent slide notch wears over time and the entire slide must be replaced to restore the slide locking feature of the firearm.
Moreover, the existing slides do not allow for the adjustment of the force at which the recoil spring acts on the slide upon unlocking, thus limiting the adaptability of the firearm for environments that could render the firearm more prone to jamming or malfunction.
Thus, there is still a need for an adaptable slide replacement mechanism that reduces the need to replace entire slide and is adaptable to the needs of the user.